I'm a huge believer in going homeopathic whenever possible so I don't use any prescription drugs at all. A year ago, during an annual checkup, my doctor said I had high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Of course, his immediate response was to put me on medication because he said it wasn't because I was unhealthy but it was a hereditary thing. I reluctantly took the medication, but 2 days into it I was feeling really awful. My body was telling me this was not good, so I immediately stopped and went to a homeopathic doctor who prescribed 2 all natural products that I could literally order on Amazon. My regular doctor was furious -- "You're taking the advice of that QUACK?". Cut to: One year later after annual check-up after a year of regularly taking the homeopathic products, my doctor was amazed. Blood pressure totally normal, cholesterol drastically cut in half. He said "Whatever you're doing, keep doing it". By the way, I experienced no side-effects from these products, and the results speak for themselves.

Hey, I'm with you on the prescription drug thing. Some of those things have side effects so deleterious that I'd rather suffer with the original malady. But homeopathy? Come on! It's 2015. You've GOTTA know you're being ripped off.

Well, CJAZ has his quack pseudosciences mixed up. The links are to herbal remedies, not homeopathic ones. It's entirely possible for herbal stuff to have effects and side-effects. After all, most "conventional" drugs are just purified or slightly modified herbal products.

Although, of course, most of the herbal stuff sold on line is basically placebo. The weird thing though, is that placebos work for a lot of people.

So do "nocebos." People convince themselves that some arbitrary thing is going to make them sick or give them an allergic reaction... and it does whether or not it is actually in whatever you feed them. They only have to think that they're consuming it.

There is a lot of mental attitude involved in health and sickness that we don't really understand. Probably starting off the day with a good wank and a bit of self affirmation - or self hypnosis, whatever - is not a bad thing.

I was horrified at the long lists of prescriptions that my parents would bring home from the VA. When I was counting out my Mom's pills, there were like 20 of them at a time, that changed every time she was hospitalized. But most of them turned out to be nutritional supplements. Things she could easily have got over the counter. I don't know if the doctors didn't trust her to shop for them on her own, or if it was just to get them on the "benefits" instead of "out-of-pocket" list. Stuff like that probably inflates the count of prescriptions.

mindgarden saidWell, CJAZ has his quack pseudosciences mixed up. The links are to herbal remedies, not homeopathic ones. It's entirely possible for herbal stuff to have effects and side-effects. After all, most "conventional" drugs are just purified or slightly modified herbal products.

Although, of course, most of the herbal stuff sold on line is basically placebo. The weird thing though, is that placebos work for a lot of people.

So do "nocebos." People convince themselves that some arbitrary thing is going to make them sick or give them an allergic reaction... and it does whether or not it is actually in whatever you feed them. They only have to think that they're consuming it.

There is a lot of mental attitude involved in health and sickness that we don't really understand. Probably starting off the day with a good wank and a bit of self affirmation - or self hypnosis, whatever - is not a bad thing.

I was horrified at the long lists of prescriptions that my parents would bring home from the VA. When I was counting out my Mom's pills, there were like 20 of them at a time, that changed every time she was hospitalized. But most of them turned out to be nutritional supplements. Things she could easily have got over the counter. I don't know if the doctors didn't trust her to shop for them on her own, or if it was just to get them on the "benefits" instead of "out-of-pocket" list. Stuff like that probably inflates the count of prescriptions.

Perhaps, but in some cases a scrip makes it less expensive. My doc gave me one for extra strength ibuprofen, it was cheaper per milligram than buying the Advil.

mindgarden saidWell, CJAZ has his quack pseudosciences mixed up. The links are to herbal remedies, not homeopathic ones. It's entirely possible for herbal stuff to have effects and side-effects. After all, most "conventional" drugs are just purified or slightly modified herbal products.

Although, of course, most of the herbal stuff sold on line is basically placebo. The weird thing though, is that placebos work for a lot of people.

So do "nocebos." People convince themselves that some arbitrary thing is going to make them sick or give them an allergic reaction... and it does whether or not it is actually in whatever you feed them. They only have to think that they're consuming it.

There is a lot of mental attitude involved in health and sickness that we don't really understand. Probably starting off the day with a good wank and a bit of self affirmation - or self hypnosis, whatever - is not a bad thing.

I was horrified at the long lists of prescriptions that my parents would bring home from the VA. When I was counting out my Mom's pills, there were like 20 of them at a time, that changed every time she was hospitalized. But most of them turned out to be nutritional supplements. Things she could easily have got over the counter. I don't know if the doctors didn't trust her to shop for them on her own, or if it was just to get them on the "benefits" instead of "out-of-pocket" list. Stuff like that probably inflates the count of prescriptions.

Perhaps, but in some cases a scrip makes it less expensive. My doc gave me one for extra strength ibuprofen, it was cheaper per milligram than buying the Advil.

Who the hell buys the name brand? The store brand costs like, 2/3 less and does the same thing. Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, sodium naproxen...seriously, read the label. (I do still buy Bayer aspirin tho)